Published authors: did any of you wait to get your own website until your 1st book starting making money?

[Guest]

I'm an aspiring author, currently on the path to publishing my first book. As I navigate the myriad aspects of self-promotion and branding, I've been contemplating the idea of creating a personal website dedicated to my writing journey and works. However, I'm unsure about the timing. For those authors who have already been through the publishing process: Did any of you decide to postpone setting up your own website until after your first book began generating revenue? I'm curious about the pros and cons of this approach and would appreciate insights from those who've faced a similar decision.

[Carmen]

I created almost all my social media platforms a year prior to my first book release. I used the time to attract readers and generate a fan base for the book.

I still promote each of my books for a year before they launch.

[Charles]

Homie, you don’t market your product after it’s successful. You market your product and then it becomes successful.

[Jason]

No, get set up beforehand. I have an author website that connects to a media blog site I operate and one points to the other so I get traffic going between them.

[Ileana]

In case it is of interest, I don't think Donna Tartt has a website. She also has an interesting perspective on social media:

"I was warned off it early on. Years ago, in India, I was the only America at a big dinner where everyone was talking about social media, which at the time was very new. A few of us (including me) had never heard of it — I was trying to understand what it was and how it worked, but Becky Swift, Margaret Drabble’s daughter, was very emphatic: "You should never get social media Donna, it’s a terrible idea for you, it’s noisy and shallow and distracting and it will sneak into your reading and writing life in a thousand horrible ways and and be a monstrous waste of your energy and time. Promise me you’ll never touch it."

And I didn’t. It would be years before people started talking about how destructive social media was, or how insidious it would turn out to be on so many cultural, political and personal levels. So I’m hugely grateful to Becky for steering me away from it before I stumbled into it unawares — Becky died young, and I am sad I never got a chance to tell how much that conversation changed my life for the better."

I took this from an article by Elena Nicolau.

Explore these too: Can I get some help brainstorming a classy pen name so I can finally create my website?

[Author]

All of the expert advice says build it all now. Or better, yesterday, if you can No matter where you are in the process. Build the fan-base now, and funnel them to your mailing list so you can work on pre-orders and have an amazing launch day!!!

[Kailyn]

Nope. Readers need somewhere to find you and stay up to date, plus you put your links in the backmatter.

I purchased my domain and a website plan via Wix before my first short story was published.

[Sharon]

I bought my domain name very early on, 1999, so it's mine! I had several websites, some with the help of friends and once free through Wix.

Finally, I got a professional one and love it!